Uttarakhand Meteorological Centre has forecast light rain/ snow at isolated places in high reaches of mountainous districts-Chamoli, Rudraprayag, Uttarkashi and Pithoragarh-on December 27.
Mussoorie, the queen of hills, is also likely to have the season’s maiden snowfall during that time. The minimum temperature in the capital plunged a bit lower over the past 24 hours to settle on 3 degree celsius on Friday. Mussoorie and Tehri shivered in the cold with the minimum temperature dipping to around zero degree Celsius. Pantnagar did the same as the mercury dipped to 1.2 degree Celsius.
Met director Bikram Singh said while talking to The Pioneer on Friday that there are several places in the mountainous terrains where minimum temperature has plunged to zero or sub zero level.
To help the homeless to beat the chilling cold, the administration has recently distributed blankets among them. It has also arranged lighting of bonfires at many places, especially at Doon Hospital, ISBT and Clock Tower, during the night hours. While the daily wagers are suffering as they keep going without works the tea roadside tea vendors are enjoying a good time. People are thronging the tea stalls both in the morning and the evening hours in fairly good number.
Ramlal, native of Saharanpur (Uttar Pradesh) and a construction worker, said that he is finding it difficult to get works these days. “Things are grimly uncertain. Someday, I get something and, at others, nothing. I am carrying on after a fashion. Along with other labourers, I stand near Raipur police station daily around 6.30 am in quest of work. But the cold is stopping the people who can employ us from coming out,” he said. Sohan, native of Bijnor, and a tea vendor, selling tea at Sahastradhara said,” The sale of tea in winter rises many times as compared to the summer. I am busy serving them tea all through the day. The colder things are the better is my sale,” he said, smiling.
Despite Friday being Christmas, a holiday, traffic was thinner in the city as compared to normal days. The Met officer said that the minimum temperature might gain by few degrees on December 27 as cloudy sky would prevail in Dehradun and neighbouring areas. However, the higher reaches would receive light rain/snow the same day, he said.
The weather forecast for Uttarakhand on Saturday is dry weather while ground frost would occur in some areas. The weather forecast for Dehradun on Saturday is mainly clear sky.